


Tricycle

by Alexicon



Series: harry potter works [11]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-05
Updated: 2015-08-05
Packaged: 2018-04-13 04:43:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4508244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexicon/pseuds/Alexicon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry is drunk and depressed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tricycle

**Author's Note:**

> Be aware: the entire time I wrote this, I was singing 'Bicycle' by Queen, but with tricycles instead.

Lonely, lonely, lonely. Harry stared at his drink and tried not to feel jealous of the two (happy, fulfilled, in _love_ ) friends in front of him. He was so tired of feeling like a–

“You’re not a third wheel, Harry,” Hermione said, exasperated. She was always exasperated with him now, when she could tear her eyes away from Ron’s new haircut. Harry wasn’t sure if she had picked up his thoughts from accidental Legilimency (which had been happening more and more often since she had restored her parents’ memories) or if he was really drunk enough to speak his thoughts aloud.

“Mate, seriously, I know we’ve been a bit distracted lately, but we did have some things to deal with. You remember the war, right?”

Of course he remembered the war. He was in it.

“Of course he remembers the war, Ronald, don’t be ridiculous.”

Yeah, Ron. Don’t be ridiculous. Don’t be like Harry, who had thought they could be the same three people they had been before Voldemort decided to take over Hogwarts. Now, instead of three, they were _two_ and _one_. Harry didn’t want to be one. He didn’t even want to be two. He wanted to be _three_ again.

“Why on earth are you mumbling about maths, Harry?”

Harry blinked up at Hermione blearily, then smiled tremulously at Ron. “I love you,” he slurred, accompanied by a muted groan from Ron, who rubbed his bright red red face with both hands. “I love you both so much. More than anything. More than any _one_! And, and if you have to be all– all _two_ – then one can, one can deal. One will be fine. One just _loves_ two.”

“He’s this mushy every time he gets drunk, I swear,” the blushing Ron muttered to a teary Hermione.

“Do shut up, Ron,” she hissed, then stared at Harry, doe eyes wide and hurting. “Why do you think one has to deal, Harry?”

“No more three,” Harry said, distantly wondering if he should be thinking more or thinking less, at this point. “One and two used to be three but can’t be anymore. Three were perfect. Two is precious. One is _pathetic_.”

Ron looked at him dubiously. “You’re acting loonier than Luna ever did,” he told Harry.

“Ron!” Hermione cried.

“No, I mean it!” Upset now, Ron straightened from his impression of a pillar in ruins. “Look. Harry. We’re still three, all right? You’re thinking that you’re the third wheel on a bicycle, but what we really are is– is– Hermione, what’s that three-wheeled bicycle called again?”

“A tricycle,” said Hermione in a wobbly voice.

“Yeah! A tricycle. Harry, we’re a tricycle, all right? And without three wheels, we all fall over. We have to stay balanced.”

Hermione was outright crying now. Harry stared at her tears and then petted her face gently.

“There, there,” he said. “Tricycle wheels can’t cry.”

“It’s a _metaphor_ , you silly man,” she burst out, then caught the two boys in a strangling hug which mashed them both together forcefully. Ron managed a shrug under her left arm and pulled Harry in so it was more of a group hug than Hermione embracing them both separately.

“I like being three,” Harry admitted quietly into Hermione’s shoulder, where his secret would be safe.

“Of course you do, Harry. So do we,” whispered Hermione.

“Two’s just not as good, without you,” Ron confided to Harry’s hair. Harry (and his hair) appreciated it.

“I love you both.”

They squeezed each other tightly, unwilling to let go until morning found them.

“And we love you. It'll be all right, Harry, we're still three.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://lexiconallie.tumblr.com)!


End file.
